Comeback Falls Short as Wahine Hold Off Gauchos in Heartbreaker

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.- Despite a fierce singles comeback, the UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis team saw its season come to a close when it fell 4-3 to Hawai'i in the Big West Tournament Semifinals.

In the epitome of a thriller, UCSB powered through adversity to tie the match at 3-3 with only one decision separating the Gauchos and another finals appearance, but the Rainbow Wahine did just enough to slip past Santa Barbara.

Throughout the meeting, the Gauchos found themselves in a dog fight going blow for blow with the Wahine while neither team gave an inch of wiggle room.

To start off hot, Hawai'i secured the doubles point and rode the momentum into singles.

After the Wahine took a 3-0 advantage with singles wins on courts one and four, things looked bleak for UCSB, but the Gauchos wouldn't going down without a brawl.

Tiffany Lagarde kept her perfect record intact from the third-slot with a comeback 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 win to topple Nikola Dolakova for UCSB's first point of the day.

Following suit from court five, Stephanie Yamada overcame Roxanne Resma 7-6 (2), 6-2 in a two-set sweep to pull the Gauchos within one.

Santa Barbara tied things up with momentum on its side when Juliana Valero conquered Alzbeta Houbova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on court six as the comeback seemed imminent after three straight UCSB victories.

The Gauchos, who seemingly watched their season slip away right in front of their eyes just minutes before, were now on the cusp of the greatest UCSB comeback of the year.

All tied up on court two at 4-4 in the final set, Maayan Sala ultimately did enough to lift Hawai'i to the finals with a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 finish to scrape by Elizaveta Volodko and end UCSB's 2019 season.

UC Santa Barbara Women's Tennis won its second consecutive regular season crown, but couldn't complete the Big West sweep as its title hopes came to an end at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens in Indian Wells, Calif. during the Big West Tournament Semifinals.